What a great Christmas movie!! Capra always delivers! Some people accused him of being a Pollyanna but I think we need more movies that just plain make you feel good and give you hope for the future in a world gone mad. Our once-great country has been taken over by a cabal of D.B. Nortons. They control the press just like he does in this movie. They shout down and try to destroy anyone trying to speak truth if it does not agree with their truth. Watching this tonight reminded me that there is a higher power aware of all the injustice in the world and that someday...."all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well"...(Julian of Norwich 1342-1416)

I consider this film a sum up of what the so called modern life is like. As we have been doing since we don't even have any register of, we live in a society. As "modern" it gets, the more sophisticated the ways we invent to take control one of the other.
The film goes side by side with Orwell's Animals Farm. We decide to change the society we live in, team up with our equals, find strategies and when we are finally making the difference, everything gets big and some smart guys takes control. There's always someone who looks everything from the top and knows how to control all that good intention.
But, the central problem for me is not the controller, but this blind devotion people use to have. People who followed John Doe, did it because they were told he was this man who could change people's lives. But, as fast as they believed that, they bought the opposite idea.
That's not the case in the story, because "Doe" was used, but the film discusses that if you wanna change the world, and you're being successful on your way, you cannot be naïve to think no one will try to use that, perhaps against yourself. That's called reality.
What started looking like a modest comedy, showed to be a great movie.

Hi I have a VOD platform, Can stream these films there? There will be no commercial use.

Gets better every time I watch it!

Every single form of communication between members of the human race concerns messages. That is a given. And this particular film, although it's characters and story line are totally fictitious, successfully carries the most important message of them all - and that message is called Hope.
For it is also a fact that a message does not have to be 'real'as such to touch people's inner aspirations or desires - it simply needs to touch a chord within their own humanity. That is the moment when those watching can inwardly feel and therefore vicariously live, even for an hour or two, that truly wondrous human emotion. In that context alone the intended message of Hope that this film carries - can be said to have been received and appreciated at every possible level of our human abilities.

It turns out that the scene (early in the movie) where Walter Brennan's character explains his coined term "heelots" is somewhat famous (or notorious, depending upon your point of view). Put the word in a search engine, and you turn up video clips of the scene, transcripts of Brennan's lines, and some comments about the idea he presents.
As it turns out, the idea is a fairly ancient one. It is the whole reason why spiritual ascetics, in their quest for inner freedom, turn away from the material world, and why spiritual people who live in the material world practice disciplines to limit its impact upon their lives. The Advaitists speak of "attachment," the bondage that results when our lifestyles and the things we (think we) own wind up owning us. (Their answer: "Work in the world, but do not become attached to the results.") Brennan's "heelots" speech, which says almost the same thing, is in keeping with several spiritual traditions, and points out the same results that they do: non-attachment brings peace and happiness, while attachment brings misery and suffering. To find such a concept presented in a movie targeted at mainstream America—which by then (1941) was well on its way to being a consumer society, with its business leaders doing all they could to foster attachment—surprises me more than a little.
The film presents a few other values that were relevant enough at the time, and much more so to today's Ipod generation. Something to think about, while watching the world go by.

Reminded me of a cross between It's A Wonderful Life and Hero. Well worth the watch!

Meet John Doe is one of the best films ever! Cabra is brilliant; this one is right up there with my favorite movie, It's A Wonderful Life. All the actors did a fine job. Barbara Stanwyck is amazing here, as she is in all her films. The scene towards the end is amazing and Stanwyck gave a great delivery; I especially loved when she mentioned Christ and what He did for humanity. Can't say enough good things about this one. It is a shame that more movies these days don't have the heart that this one does. A must-see for all people of all ages.

Hi,
I need just the subtitles, but didn´t find them, where can I get them?
Thanks and Cheers

The characters and dialougue are enjoyable and entertaining. The developing dynamic between the main man and the leading lady is fun to watch. The movie has an engaging, original plot and a novel community spirited message.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I suppose a cross between It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith, and Arsenic and Old Lace, all of which are phenomenal films. Instead John Doe is a rather dull, overlong, and profoundly unfunny movie. I suppose there is a meaningful underlying message. I suppose the acting is better than average. But in the end, John Doe disappoints.

Quelle chance de pouvoir trouver ici ce excellentissime film de Capra. Dans la grande lignée de films comme La vie est Belle, M. Smith au Sénat, M. Deeds... c'est un film qui regonfle, remonte le moral pour repartir à l'assaut de la vie quotidienne.
Gary Cooper y est formidable, Barbara Stanwyck magnifique et Edward Arnold, en second rôle de méchant totalement réussi.
Difficile de trouver des défauts à ce chef-d'oeuvre. A voir et revoir sans modération.

There have been complaints that the MPEG-2 file for the movie is incomplete. The file is complete, but the tracking is off, so the length of the movie may appear to be much less than it is in real time.

Many think of Capra films as sappy, but I find his films inspiring. "Meet John Doe" and "It's a Wonderful Life" are two of my favorite holiday films.

My mistake..

Unfortunetly there is only the first half...
> Complete version is now online
Not in all mirrors :o( Maybe in 2006!